Design brief: According to Marcel Breuer, there was no time to decide upon the building’s design ahead of his selection. (New York Times, “Whitney Museum Finds a New Home” June 18, 1963.)
The initial program requirements included: 3991sf of service and work space; 29,817 sf of gallery and exhibition space; 2,926 sf of office space, 1,050 sf of library space; 1,584 sf of lounges and meeting rooms, 950sf of supply closet and coat check space; 1,500 sf of lobby space. The building committee consulted Philip Johnson on building costs. He confirmed that $50 per sf was reasonable and the total cost was estimated at $1,598,100. The finished building had a gross floor area of 82,000 sf; net gallery area 26,700 sf; sculpture court 3,100 sf, storage area 21,500 sf, office space 12,200 sf.

Significant Alteration(s) with Date(s): Event(s):Whitney Biennial (a showcase for emerging artists)
Period: The Biennial has been held at the museum every two years since the late 1960’s.
Type of change: renovation: Lobby renovation. Renovation and expansion of the museum into neighboring buildings.
Date(s): Lobby: 1994. Expansion: circa 1994-1998. 33 East 74th Street purchased in 1994 for $3.4 million. Gluckman hired in 1994 to study expansion. Work completed in March 1998.
circumstances/reasons for change: Need for additional gallery/exhibition space, offices, and library, ADA compliance for public spaces including restrooms.
Effects of changes: The lobby was reconfigured with the addition of a new admissions desk, expanded coat check room, and new moveable furniture for the book store at a cost of $500,000. The expansion was announced in 1995 and budgeted at $13.5 million. It added approximately 13,000 sf of exhibition space to the museum. Breuer’s original building anticipated expansion into adjoining sites to the south with the inclusion of break-through panels in the concrete wall on the south. The museum is now connected to the buildings located at 943 Madision Avenue and 33 East 74th Street. The fifth floor was converted into gallery space and the offices previously located there were moved into 33 East 74th Street. The terraces located on the north and west sides of the floor were enclosed to provide additional gallery space. These changes added 30% more exhibition space. Skylights were installed. The fourth floor mezzanine library was converted into gallery space. Mechanical systems were moved to a new enclosure on the roof. The other galleries were refurbished. Paint was removed from the stone floors and stone base trim was restored. Each of the more than 1,400 quarter-ton granite slabs on the building’s façade was removed, cleaned at a facility in Queens and replaced using new anchors. A banner sign was added outside the front entrance.-- Revamping the Whitney, Metropolis 1998 Feb.-Mar., v.17, n.6, p.50.--Let the Sun Shine In, New York Magazine, April 6, 1998.--Expanding an icon, Architecture 1998 June, v.87, n.6, p.108-113. Persons/organizations involved:
Architects: Gluckman Mayner Architects (Richard Gluckman and David Mayner, principles-charge; Martin Marciano, project architect; David Adler, Mark Fiedler, Patrick O’Brien, project team).
Engineers: Ove Arup & Partners (structural, mechanical, electrical).Consultants: 2 X 4 (signage).
General Contractors: AJ Contracting; York Hunter Services.
Outdoor Signage: Pentagram

Current Use: Of whole building/site: Museum with associated archive, library and administrative offices. The building also contains a restaurant and gift shop. Various spaces are used for special events. Of principal component: The main volume is primarily exhibition space along with restaurant and gift shops. The connected townhouses and new construction primarily contain library/archives and administrative offices.

Current Condition: Of whole building/site: Good
Of principal components: Good.
The each granite panel on the façade was taken down and cleaned during the 1998 renovation.
Comments: Although the building is in good condition, having been renovated in 1998, the Whitney does feel a need for additional space, as evidenced by the numerous schemes for expansion since the late 1970’s.

General Description:

The main volume of the building is approximately 81 feet wide, 125 feet deep and 97 feet high. The building is stepped away at and below grade, creating a void approximately 28 feet wide and 11 feet deep between the sidewalk and the building that is crossed by an entry bridge. The building progressively moves back towards the street in three steps as it rises. Breuer described it as an inverted ziggurat. Next to the main volume on the south side is a smaller secondary volume, approximately 12 feet wide and 97 feet high, the upper portion of which slopes back away from street. It contains the main stair as well as space for the museum’s restoration service. This secondary volume is made of exposed concrete. The building is constructed primarily of concrete and clad with granite panels. Split slate flooring is used throughout large portions of the building. Precast concrete coffers are hung above the second, third, and fourth floor galleries. An array of circular light fixtures hangs above the lobby. The main façade, which faces west along Madison Avenue, has one large trapezoidal window which protrudes from the building at approximately 20 degrees. The north façade has six smaller windows which have a shape similar to the large window. The building is set off from the townhouses on the block by two thick concrete walls, one on south side of the building and the other on the east side. The south wall has “break though” panels which allow the main building to be connected to adjacent buildings on the block. The building has two floors below grade. The lowest is primarily used for storage and service. The next floor up contains a restaurant, gift shop and public restrooms. The ground floor primarily contains a lobby. The second, third, fourth and fifth floors are primarily gallery space. Most of the space with was added (connected) to the museum by Gluckman Mayner Architects is contain in buildings that have maintained their townhouse appearance. However, a tall masonry building was constructed behind the building at 33 East 74th Street at that time to provide a physical connection between it and the main building. This new construction has a minimal presence from the street.

Construction Period:

Original Physical Context:

Name(s) of surrounding area/building(s): The Whitney is located within walking distance of the “Museum Mile” section of 5th Avenue including: El Museo del Barrio at 104th Street; Museum of the City of New York at 103rd Street; Jewish Museum at 92nd Street; Cooper-Hewitt National Museum of Design at 91st Street; National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts at 89th Street; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum at 88th Street; Metropolitan Museum of Art from 82nd to 86th Streets; Goethe House German Cultural Center at 82nd Street.
Visual relations: Many have noted the similarity between Breuer’s Whitney and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Guggenheim as both share the rough form of an inverted ziggurat.
Functional relations:The Whitney was expanded into the building located at 33 East 74th Street as well new construction between the two buildings in 1998. The annex includes a library, archives and offices. The building at 943 Madison Avenue contains storage and administrative space for the museum and previously contained the museum’s “Store Next Door,” The museum also operates the “Whitney Museum of American Art at Altria” which is located at 120 Park Avenue at 42nd Street, New York, New York 10017.

Evaluation

Technical Evaluation:

A comprehensive architect’s report detailing the design was prepared in November 1963. It notes that the north and south wall was reinforced concrete bearing walls. The east and west walls act has deep concrete trusses that span the 81 feet between the bearing walls. The precast concrete coffers, arrayed in a two foot by two foot grid provide power and lighting over the galleries. The ceilings are 12 feet 9 inches above the 2nd and 3rd floor galleries and 17 feet 6 inches above the 4th floor gallery.

Social:

The design of the museum was in part a response to the state of modern art at the time. Breuer purposely minimized the use of windows to better showcase the work within. The galleries can accommodate the large sculptures that were emerging at the time.

Cultural & Aesthetic:Public and critical response to the building has been mixed. The void in front of the museum as well as the walls on the south and east sides of the building have been considered hostile to the urban environment. Moreover, the visual solidity of the building’s mass has proved inscrutable to many. However, these same tactics allow the building to define a space for its remarkable form within a dense urban framework. At the same it, it allows patrons to view works of art with a sense of remove from the distractions of the city. Instituitionally, the Whitney has come to be so deeply associated with its building.
Canonical status: Built at a time when transparent high modernist buildings were very much in vogue, Breuer’s brutalist design distinguished itself with its primitive opacity. There are few works of this style left in the city. The only one other works by Breuer in New York City are at Bronx Community College.

Historical:

General Assessment:Breuer’s use of the south and east walls to set off the building and define the block’s corner continues to be a source of inspiration to modern architects. Notably, Zaha Hadid used a similar strategy in her design for the Contemporary Art Center in Cincinnati.